Reasons for the low fruit-setting rate of Chinese chestnut and measures to improve it
Chinese chestnut is a traditional fruit in China. It is rich in nutrients and is known as the "pearl of the East." It is distributed throughout China, and its area under cultivation is extremely large. However, during cultivation, a low fruit-setting rate often occurs, seriously affecting yield and growers' economic returns. So what causes the low fruit-setting rate of Chinese chestnut? For how to deal with it, let's take a look together with Qinnong Web.
1. Reasons for the low fruit-setting rate
The main causes of the low fruit-setting rate of Chinese chestnut include insufficient nutrients, poor pollination, weather, variety, and lack of trace elements. During the flowering period of Chinese chestnut, the growth of the plant's branches and leaves occurs at the same time, so there is a phenomenon of competing for nutrients, resulting in insufficient nutrients and a low fruit-setting rate. Chinese chestnut is a tree species with unisexual flowers on the same plant, and its male and female flowers bloom at different times, and there are often more male flowers and fewer female flowers, thus resulting in a low fruit-setting rate. In addition, if rainy weather occurs during pollination, it will lead to poor pollination or pollination failure, causing the fruit-setting rate to decline. Therefore, to achieve high yield of Chinese chestnut, solving the fruit-setting rate is key, and these reasons are related to the fruit-setting rate, so management in these aspects must be strengthened during cultivation in order to improve the fruit-setting rate and achieve the goal of high yield.
2. Measures to improve the fruit-setting rate
Strengthen fertilizer and water management: since insufficient nutrients cause a low fruit-setting rate, we must strengthen fertilizer and water management. The first thing to do is apply sufficient base fertilizer. After fruit harvest each year, dig a ring-shaped trench around the planting area and pile 100 kg of fertilizer in it, which can help the tree recover as quickly as possible and promote flower bud differentiation in time. Next is topdressing. Spring is the period of branch and leaf growth and flowering and fruiting, and this is also the main time when the low fruit-setting rate occurs. At this time, the topdressing we apply should mainly be quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer, supplying about 1 kg of urea per plant, which can make its branches and leaves lush and produce many flowers. In the later stage, in order to avoid empty burrs, some boron fertilizer should be applied to increase yield, about 0.1-0.25 kg per plant, and it can also be carried out together with foliar spraying.
Reduce male flowers: the number of male flowers of Chinese chestnut far exceeds that of female flowers, so during the flowering period, male flowers can be appropriately reduced to avoid consuming the plant's nutrients and correspondingly increase the number of female flowers. Generally, before flowering, cut off excess male flower branches or the more numerous male inflorescences on some fruit-bearing branches.
Artificial pollination: Chinese chestnut is a tree species with a high seed-setting rate under cross-pollination. According to experiments, the probability of self-pollination is only 20%, while the probability of cross-pollination can reach 90%. Therefore, when planting, plant some pollinator varieties around the production varieties to improve the fruit-setting rate. In addition to this method, the simplest pollination method is to collect pollen and carry out artificial pollination: collect the male flower pollen from other plants and apply it to the female flowers of other plants, and the pollination probability is 100%.
The above are the reasons for the low fruit-setting rate of Chinese chestnut and the methods to improve the fruit-setting rate brought to you by Qinnong Web. We hope it can help you. To learn more, please stay tuned to Qinnong Web.